Problem: Kevin earns a base salary of $300.00 every week with an additional 10% commission on everything he sells. If Kevin sold $3850.00 worth of items last week, what was his total salary?
First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $10\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{10}{100}$ which is also equal to $10 \div 100$ $10 \div 100 = 0.10$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.10$ $\times$ $$3850.00$ $=$ $$385.00$ We can find the total salary for Kevin by adding the amount of commission made to his base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$385.00$ $+$ $$300.00$ $=$ $$685.00$ The total salary Kevin made last week was $$685.00$.